Bathing Beauty!

Brookey officially started her second summer of "mommy and me" swim lessons. Thankfully next summer, mommy won't have to join her in the pool! She missed 3 days last week since she was feeling under the weather but she's made up for lost time. She can blow bubbles, kick and jump off the side like a champ! She even goes all the way under when she jumps off the side (not her favorite thing to do, though). Here she is enjoying herself in the kiddie pool!

A Day in San Francisco

We spent a relaxing morning in SF today being pseudo-tourists...we ate in Chinatown, walked around downtown, went to the Marina Green and even took Brookey on her first cable car ride! We even stopped at a few playgrounds along the way so she could clown around. We all had a great time!!!

Student Teaching...Almost Done!!!

My slave labor stint (AKA: student teaching) is coming to an end. This Friday, August 1st will mark my last day of working for free and I join the ranks of the gainfully employed on August 14th. It has been a summer of ups and downs. After all, who can truly enjoy going to work everyday and not getting paid when it's 80 degrees and sunny and your kid is stuck at daycare instead of frolicking in the pool with you!! But we've all survived, with only a few battle scars. On a better note, I will come out of this experience with not one, but TWO California Teaching Credentials. One is already in the mail. The other will be completed after I write a 30 page "dissertation," as I call it, analyzing every aspect and teaching including a video tape of my own teaching. Talk about exciting. All of this is nearing the final stages and after next week, I don't have to set foot in a college classroom for a good six months.

Above is a picture of the 4th grade class where I am currently working/slaving. For the most part, they are good kids, but quite different than the students at my "real" school, Matthew Turner Elementary. Although I could use a "real" summer vacation and two more months of lounging at the pool, I am excited to go back to Turner. I'm glad I listened to everyone who told me I should just get this student teaching with over now and not wait....fantastic advice :-)

I Can Ride My Bike!!!

After getting her souped-up tricycle about a year ago...when her feet didn't come anywhere CLOSE to the pedals...Brookey can finally ride her bike! She can reach and pedals and ride away...so long as it's a straight path. Steering is another issue we'll deal with in Lesson #2. In the meantime, I think I'd better invest in a crash helmet!!

The rest of her weekend was spent goofing around at home, trying to shake a little bit of a cold. Check her out in her Pat Benatar headband, as Scott calls it. That is her OWN fashion statement she insisted on wearing all day long...i had nothing to do with it!!!

Family Photo

Much to Scott's dismay, I dragged him and Brookey to The Picture People this weekend for a family photo. Brookey was an angel for the first 10 minutes and after that, she was over the bright lights, camera and smiling on cue--who can blame her??? Thus, we have a couple of decent pictures that were taken during the beginning of the session. Check out this one on the bottom--that is just a classic Brooke face!

Happy 4th of July!!

We just returned from a 9 day stay in Indiana. I can't believe I am saying this but it was actually RELAXING!!! Brooke is getting her groove down on air travel and has become an expert at taking her shoes off at security, sitting still to watch movies and always entertaining us with 2,000 rounds of "ABC" and the "Wheels on the Bus."

After 5 days of being terrified by all the dogs, Brookey finally warmed up to all the hounds in Warsaw and was very sad to leave "Henry, Ladybug, Shadow and Einstein." She still remembers that Charlie is the one who "ate all her M & M's." Not to mention Scott will never live down "Daddy dropping his cell phone in the toilet." It's great to have a 2 year old to keep everyone in check :-)

As Brooke gets older it makes me sad to think that we only get back to Indiana once a year but I guess the situation is what it is. Everyone is welcome to come to visit the West Coast Rooneys anytime!